Assessment of Global Norms of Behavior and Legal Regimes Related to On-Orbit Activities

April, 2022
IDA document: D-28849
FFRDC: Science and Technology Policy Institute
Type: Documents , Space
Authors:
Authors
Rachel Lindbergh, Lincoln M. Butcher, Cara P. Cavanaugh, Asha Balakrishnan See more authors
Global attitudes on norms of behavior for space activities will be increasingly important and dynamic in the coming years. Understanding these international perspectives will be vital to ensuring continued access to and safe operations within space for civil, commercial and U.S. national security stakeholders, particularly for new space operations as seen with on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (OSAM). This study examines how countries regard norms of behavior specifically related to OSAM technologies and how that may evolve in the next 10 to 15 years. The study team also examined the drivers and mechanisms that may lead to norms development in the area of OSAM. We delved deeper into attitudes and perceptions of norms by a number of stakeholder groups relying on interviews, literature reviews and case studies.